The British Colony of Lake County, Florida 1882-1902

“John Bulls in the Orange Groves”

As I am wont to do from time-to-time my morning began with coffee and a Google search in hopes of finding some new and interesting bit of relevant information to post. Thank you, Google! Paydirt! Up popped a short article, John Bulls in the Orange Groves, by Paul W. Wehr, from the summer/fall 1979, Journal of the USF/Library Associates.

Wehr relates the events leading up to the push for British settlement in the 1880’s—the greatest number, he claims, “located in a broad north-south corridor extending from Ormond Beach on the east to Hillsborough County on the west. Brief accounts of the two English colonies located north of Leesburg and the two southeast of Orlando [Narcoossee and Conway] are representative enough to illustrate the English experience.”

One colony, Wehr writes, was Chetwynd located from Zephyr Lake north to Lake Ella, the product of a scheme promoted by Stapylton and Company whose prime mover was Granville Chetwynd Stapylton. . . Zephyr Hall he describes as the living quarters for the bachelors and the social center of the community. Now here’s where it gets interesting:

Colony #2, Wehr says, was located south of Zephyr Lake. Fruitland Park was founded by a Major Rooks of Georgia who also offered to train young men in the citrus industry. It is said that the agent for that enterprise toured England persuading families to send their younger sons to that agricultural school. The families were expected to pay a sum of money to cover the cost of tuition and of transportation, reportedly in the cramped quarters of a freighter. Upon arrival those apprentices found not dormitories and farms but rough shacks and a virgin wilderness. Conditions became so difficult for some that they were seen ploughing [sic] in the dress suits they had so carefully carried with them so they could be properly attired on social occasions. Mercy!

After reading the entire article I was left wondering about John Bull—the John Bull included in Wehr’s title. Here’s John Bull, the English equivalent of our Uncle Sam:

John Bull represents the drinking, hard-headed, down-to-earth, fond of dogs, horse, ale and country sports kind of man—characteristics typical of the men of Chetwynd. But, as now known, not physically although I must admit that when I first began my research of Holy Trinity’s history I was convinced the founders were curmudgeons with pork chop sideburns—just like John Bull!